Amulet Volume 8: Supernova (Kazu Kibuishi)

Continuing from last time . . .

As Navin and his friends take the fight to the shadow from Lighthouse One, a Resistance base orbiting the planet Typhon. As they do, Trellis and company are still on Alledia, bracing for an Elf invasion . . . but things take an unexpected turn. And Emily seeks to escape what she has become to save it all. But is it too late?

Though still a bit confusing, things are starting to clear up as the story heads to a conclusion, while the art remains stellar.

Rating: A

The Story of the Grail and the Passing of Arthur (Howard Pyle)

The Story of the Grail and the Passing of Arthur is the fourth and final book of an Arthurian quadrilogy by American author and illustrator Howard Pyle (Part 1, Part 2, Part 3). Written in 1910, this volume covers:

• The story of Sir Geraint 
• How he overcame the knight of the Sparrow-Hawk, married Enid, and how they had a difficult relationship
• The story of Sir Galahad
• How he was made a knight, achieved the grail (with Bors and Percival), and was taken up from this world
• The Passing of Arthur
• How the saga of Launcelot and Guinevere divided the realm; how the queen was framed and Launcelot rescured her; how Arthur and Gawaine pursued Launcelot to France; how Mordred siezed power; how they all met their end

So ends Pyle's version of the Arthurian saga. It was heartbreaking to see the end of that age, but also a poignant reminder of reality: things fall apart. Overall, I enjoyed the work for what it was. Pyle did scale down the Guinevere/Launcelot angle, claiming they weren't lovers but still inappropriately focused on each other. And the theology therein can be terrible (very works-based and mistakenly thinks humans can be pure on their own), but it was a solid story otherwise.

Stepping back to look at the whole series: Pyle's Arthur is more enjoyable than I expected. It is repetitive, certainly, but it gets better towards the end, and fleshes out the Medieval versions in satisfying ways. I wish the theology was better.

Rating: A

Cox & Kelce

I don't often blog about sports, but two Eagles greats announced their retirement in the past week, so it is time to celebrate the careers of Jason Kelce and Fletcher Cox. They were the (literal) centerpieces of the offense and defense, respectively. 

Jason Kelce

Drafted in 2011, sixth round. Spent all 13 seasons on the Eagles as their starting center. 7x Pro Bowl, 6x All Pro, 1x Super Bowl champion.

Fletcher Cox

Drafted in 2012, first round. Spent all 12 seasons on the Eagles as their starting defensive tackle. 6x Pro Bowl, 1x All Pro, 1x Super Bowl champion.

Though their football skill is what gave them prominence, what I like best about both of them is their leadership/character traits. How they encouraged teammates and fans. How Jason Kelce dressed as a mummer for the championship parade (I was there!), or how Fletcher Cox smack-talked a Cowboys fan (who was also President).

I don't know what life holds for them in this next phase, but I suspect they will both be involved with the Eagles in some capacity. And their influence will long outlast them, whether they are physically present or not. Thank you both. Fly Eagles Fly!

Amulet Volume 7: Firelight (Kazu Kibuishi)

Continuing from last time . . .

Navin and his friends try to get to Valcor to reunite with the Resistance, as Emily, Trellis, and Vigo search for an island Max promised would reveal much. Both parties will encounter considerable surprises about the past, the peril of the present, and the possibilities of the future. And Emily in particular will wrestle with the reality of weakness.

This series, always enjoyable for its art, is starting to cook story-wise. I liked it. It does get confusing keeping track of various aspects, but the revelations in this volume were intriguing and point to an exciting finish (two volumes remain).

Rating: A

Once & Future, Vol. 4: Monarchies in the U.K.

Continuing from last time . . .

With Britain now in the Otherworld, chaos reigns and monsters from a few new stories enter the fray. As Arthur seeks to bring the land under his control, another Arthur arises to challenge him, making for civil war. And no matter what happens, it seems Bridgette, Duncan, and Rose are in the middle of it all—and trying desperately to get out of it.

This volume was confusing. More characters come in, muddling an increasingly hard-to-follow story. And I had no idea how or why a second Arthur enters the picture. Still intriguing, but hoping for more in the next volume.

Rating: B-

The Story of Sir Launcelot and His Companions (Howard Pyle)

The Story of Sir Launcelot and His Companions is the third of an Arthurian quadrilogy by American author and illustrator Howard Pyle (Part 1 and Part 2). Written in 1907, it covers: Sir Launcelot, Sir Tristram, and Sir Percival. In this third volume, we have the following stories:

• The Chevalier of the Cart
• How Sir Launcelot rescued Queen Guinevere from the castle of Sir Mellegrans
• The Story of Sir Gareth of Orkney
• How Gareth lived anonymously in Arthur's court and took up an adventure, humbly traveling with Lynette and proving his worth as the Lady Layonesse's champion
• The Story of Sir Launcelot and Elaine the Fair
• How Launcelot defeated the Worm of Corbin, fought in the tournament at Astalot, and met the Lady Elaine
• The Madness of Sir Launcelot
• How Guinevere's jealousy drove Launcelot away from court and to madness
• How he was restored and married Elaine, living at the Joyous Isle
• The Story of Sir Ewaine and the Lady of the Fountain
• How the knights quested to find Lancelot
• How Ewaine served the Lady Lesolie of the Fountain, was enchanted by the Sorceress Vivien, and restored 
• The Return of Sir Launcelot
• How Percival and Ector found Launcelot, and how Launcelot and Elaine returned to Arthur's court
• How Elaine was driven away by Guinevere's jealousy, and her health declined
• The Nativity of Galahad
• How Bors and Gawaine searched for Launcelot (before his return); how Gawaine was enchanted by Vivien and later restored
• How Galahad was born and to be raised; how Elaine met her end, and that affected Launcelot

This book focuses on Launcelot, excepting the parts on Sirs Gareth and Ewaine. As with the first two volumes, there is a good deal of adventuring and repetition, but this time, there is more purpose (finding Launcelot), coupled with a foreboding sense of sadness and decay. Pyle's version is still idyllic and off theologically, but less so than his earlier works: Guinevere in particular comes off as the villain, mildly aware of (but helpless to resist) her envy of Launcelot's attention, even though she is married to Arthur. And Launcelot has genuine remorse and confusion as he seeks to be loyal to both women. It was sad in places, but the best of the bunch so far.

Rating: A

Illiterati

Today's review is of the 2023 release, Illiterati. For 2-5 players, it takes 30 minutes.

Overview

In this cooperative game, you and your friends are librarians trying to save the world from ignorance. Your job is to 'bind books' and outrun those villainous illiterati, who are out to stop you. Can you prevail in time, or is this your final chapter?

game components/example; image from here

To start, everyone draws a red or blue book. This lays out criteria they must meet, making words to do so with the letters they have. Everyone starts with 5 letters each, and there are 3 letters in a common library.

A key point: this is cooperative, and everyone can share letters with each other or take/give them in the library. 

This real-time (everyone plays at once) game has three phases:

1. Word Building Phase: each player draws 7 letters and has to spell words matching criteria on their active book . . . but you only have 3 minutes to do so! If you can't spell words matching your book, you can spell other words (and should) . . . because these letters you get to keep for the next round, and letters nobody uses can bring penalties (see next phase). Remember, you can share letters with others!

2. Book Binding Phase: the players collect unused letters from the prior phase and 'burn' them if they exceed the library limit (put one in the tracker and discard down to the library limit). They then 'bind books' (any player who has completed their book's criteria turns in the words they used to do so and flips the book over, showing it is complete). Keep letters from words you made that do not meet your book's criteria. Anyone who binds books then draws a book card of the opposite color, and looks to satisfy that book's criteria in the next round.

3. Illiterati Attack Phase: Draw an Illiterati card and do what it says.

The above phases continue until everyone has completed both a red and blue book. Then, a final round: one player chooses a new book (red or blue), and the "final chapter" condition on it must be met by all players in that round, or the Illiterati win. Do you have what it takes?

Review

This is a fun game. You'd think the sharing letter aspect would make it easy, but each person has their own goals to meet, so there is some tension there. In addition, it is impressive how quickly one's brain freezes when asked to think of words that match basic criteria. (One criteria yesterday was "foods"; I had a hard time thinking of any.)

One aspect that can make it hard is "deliberate inefficiency." You need to complete words that *don't* match your criteria, as those letters get saved for the next round. If you are efficient and use all your letters to bind your books, you will have no 'starting pool' for the final chapter round (that bit us). There is an interesting aspect that I should explore more . . . after one playthrough, I would rate this game as decent, but need more playthroughs to better gauge it.

Rating: B